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Old 01-27-2011, 09:50 PM   #11
DavidRM
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Posts: 203
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Device: Kindle
Keep in mind you have 2 main hurdles.

First, you have to convince someone even to try your sample. *Then* they have to like the sample enough to buy the book.

The first hurdle is easier to clear than the second. You just need a good title, cover and blurb (and maybe a few good reviews). The second hurdle is higher and more subjective.

So, out of the number of visitors to you Amazon or Smashwords book page, only a percentage of them will even download the sample. And out of those, you'll only get a percentage who actually buy. So you end up with a percentage of a percentage.

Which hurdle is stopping browsers from becoming paying readers? With the data you have access to today, it's hard to know. Smashwords at least gives you page views and sample download counts. That helps. But you get neither via Amazon, only the final number who buy. So...you *might* be able to leverage the data from Smashwords *some* to tinker with your specifics. But if you're like me, most of your traffic goes through Amazon and not Smashwords, so it's hard to build a good set of data on Smashwords to use for decisionmaking.

-David

PS I'm an indie software developer. That 1% conversion rate for shareware is a myth. People like to think that's the worst they could do. Reality, though, seldom pays attention to "averages".
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